This is true if you're speaking of downtown Austin. Most tech companies are in north Austin, which is decidedly less cool and more strip mall-ish. You can still

This is true if you're speaking of downtown Austin. Most tech companies are in north Austin, which is decidedly less cool and more strip mall-ish. You can still get a huge house for $200k if you look in Round Rock or Cedar Park -- both of which are within a 15-20 minute commute of the Braker/Metric area where most of the low-cost office space that attracts startups is. It's not super sexy, but cheap housing still exists in Austin if you're willing to drive a little bit.